Word Count Wednesday (on a Thursday)

My internet has been down from the heavy rains this past weekend...oh how good it is to be back online! The apocalypse is going to suck. Zombies AND no wifi? I hope I go down in the first wave.

As part of my class requirements, I am posting my 'Word Count Wednesday' in which I will discuss some of my current creative processing by answering the following three questions:

What am I working on? Our experiment for yesterday's class was to write a story's 1st page in 'medias res.' I love to learn new literary terms so I was happy to discover that 'medias res' is Latin for 'in the midst of things.' The exercise was to start the story right smack in the middle of the drama. No build up...let's just get down and dirty. I'll share my writing in a follow-up post, but for now I'll give a little background on its inspiration.

This past summer contained several life-redefining moments for me personally. One of which was the unfortunate loss of a sweet baby boy that dear friends of mine had fostered from infancy. Shortly after this boy was reunited with his birth family, he was killed. His mother currently sits in jail awaiting trial for his murder. To say this was devastating for those who know and love the families involved is an understatement. This child was a delight and gift to anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Loss is one of those parts of humanity that we will all experience at some point, but I am one of those who has successfully avoided a personally significant one until now. Nothing brings you closer to or further from God than living through something you cannot understand. I have to be honest. This is still a tough one for me. My faith has really faltered in the aftermath.

But, you know what? Maybe that's not such a bad thing. I had built my life around these ideals that I thought I should live up to. I was succeeding in the path I was orchestrating before me. I watched. I took notes. I knew what I 'should' look and act and talk like, and yet, I had this still, small nagging voice asking, "Is this you? Is this what you really believe? If it was all stripped away, are you confident in what you say is true?" I guess the answer was no.

Starting from square one is terrifying, but I want to build an authentic life based on the person I truly am and not on what I think that I should be. I want an authentic faith, one where regardless of where anyone else stands, I know what I believe. It's lonely here, but the only person I really need to fellowship with at the moment is myself.

How do I feel about the process? In general, I'm feeling good about the writing process but I'm discovering that I need to be making a more conscious effort to set aside time to write. I used to only wait for inspiration, but I don't get a lot accomplished that way. What's that old saying? "Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." Good ol' Thomas Edison probably knew a thing or two about success so I'd be wise to take a page from his book.

What am I currently reading? Due to my classload, I'm not reading much in the way of entertainment, but I am enjoying the required read of Stephen King's On Writing, as well as my women's history textbook called Through Women's Eyes. It's so important to know what has shaped our history and I think that the more I learn, the better effect it will have on my creative writing.